Posts in Category: US

For some time now, Andy Wirth has been performing his duties at the mountain resort and hotel industry. He is until now the chief executive officer of a firm known as Squaw Valley Ski Holdings. Andy has spent many years gaining experience, and he is working hard at his current place of work to make sure he has transformed the place to be one of the popular places to pay a visit for tourists from all over the world during the winter. Andy was born and raised up in West Germany. He attended his university education at the Colorado state University and the Edinburgh University. He has gained a lot of technical know-how while working as a ranger in the San Pedro Parks Wilderness area and the Rocky Mountain National Parks. His grandfather used to work as director of national parks, something that make Andy develop an immersed interest in parks.

When he finally completed his education, Andy Wirth got a job at the Steamboat Ski and Resort Corporation. He worked there for a long period in mostly the marketing department until he moved to the Intrawest. The company merged with Steamboat Ski and Resort Corporation and fortunately for Andy, he was made the chief marketing officer. He was also to perform his work as the deputy president of the sales and marketing department. His primary functions included the management of the marketing tricks in the domestic and the global markets for various businesses that are owned by the company. He worked as the leader of the mountain village Partnership, whose aim was in support of the local businesses. Not long ago, he was appointed to be the chairperson of the Reno-Tahoe Airport Authority board.

In 2010, he took over the management of the company from Nancy Cushing, who had acted as the leader of the company for more than 16 years. One of his major achievements was to oversee the company in its expansion project that used more than $70 million. The development was greatly advantageous to the firm because it was able to compete favorably with other competitors in the market. In only one year, the company was able to post impressive results concerning customer satisfaction. Squaw Valley later merged with Alpine Meadows Ski Results, something that led to a boost in business because customers were able to obtain a single ticket when they wanted to be admitted in any of the resorts.

A recent boom in the biotech industry saw venture capital investment climbing from $4.52 billion in 2013 to $5.29 billion in 2014. Joel Marcus, who has been in the industry for 30 years and is currently chief executive of Alexandria Real Estate Equities Inc., recently discussed trends contributing to the growing success. Marcus believes the industry has changed. Science is constantly evolving as new discoveries are continuously being made. Many fields have seen dramatic progress over the years and with the emergence of new science, a new generation of companies has emerged beyond the traditional Genentech and Amgen. There are exciting areas of opportunities developing.

For example, the neuroscience field which hasn’t seen as much progress in clinical trials as cancer research, is poised to excel in the current boom. Lack of funding for the FDA and NIH may hinder progress, though, as funding issues are causing young scientists to leave the public sector. The occupancy of properties is also a problem. There is fierce competition for space in the current biotech hubs of San Francisco and Cambridge, especially Cambridge where occupancy is already at 97%. Pharmaceutical, tech, and other companies, like Uber, all want space in these areas as well. However, with the resurgence of the biotech industry, other hubs are likely to emerge. NYC is a strong hub already and Texas is prepped to explode. With quality research and clinical practice, the only thing Texas lacks to become the next big hub is a strong commercial sector.

But why are biotech start-ups succeeding in an industry that doesn’t usually breed success? If you remember a piece I wrote back in January on Mark Ahn, the entrepreneur, executive, and consultant says resilience is the key. It takes longer for a product to reach the market in the biotech industry because of long development cycles and strict regulations. Therefore, companies generally require several rounds of outside funding before a product generates income. According to Mark Ahn, it doesn’t help to get caught up in what’s trending or get involved in the newest hype. Instead companies that succeed generally stick to their business plan.

If we based the nature of people’s intentions on clothing and how they wear the clothing, we would have banned the use of hats and sunglasses decades ago. It’s about as useful as discriminating against dogs that eat Beneful… meaning it’s stupid. Most people think that Congress has left the masses behind. They try to lead by their own rules these days. Bills like Republican Senator, Don Barrington’s insane suggestion, which is going to be introduced this upcoming February is a good example of that separation. Almost everyone in the country owns, and at times wears, a hooded sweatshirt or a casual shirt that has a hood attached to it. At times, people cover their face with the hood for various reasons.

Wearing a hooded sweatshirt is not an indicator of behavior. Hooded sweatshirts are fashion statements, but according to an Oklahoma news report the no-hoodie rule is punishable with fines ranging from $50 to $500 and even some jail time.

Sunny Hostin, CNN’s Legal Analyst, thinks the rule is about race. Host said: “Hoodie is code for thug in many places, and I think businesses shouldn’t be in the business of telling people what to wear.” She’s got a point. Businesses shouldn’t tell people what to wear, and Senators have no business wasting time on personal preferences.